Pregnant During An Apocalypse [BL]-Chapter 248 - Sweet caramel

Inside the small, dimly lit bedroom, Shao leaned against the closed door, his chest rising and falling in fast, uneven breaths. His hand swiped across his face, wiping away the sweat and tears that clung to his skin. His heart wouldn’t stop pounding. Not from fear anymore—something worse. Something hungry.

For a moment... just for a moment, he had wanted to take Jai up on that offer.

He had wanted to devour him. To pull him close, tear off the last bit of distance between them, and let his instincts take over.

He glanced down, biting his lip in frustration. His member stood stiff, betraying his inner battle. "Shit," he whispered, turning his face away. He hated how his body reacted before his brain had a chance to catch up.

Sighing hard, he scanned the room. A worn desk. A rusted bedframe with no sheets. A cracked mirror.

He dropped to the floor and started doing pushups—quick and aggressive. Then planks. Then crunches. Anything to get his blood moving elsewhere. Anything to fight that primal surge building inside him.

By the time he finished, sweat poured down his neck, and his arms trembled from overexertion. He collapsed against the wall, panting, heart still wild but no longer for the same reason.

At least the physical reaction had passed.

But then... his stomach growled. Loud and angry.

He groaned and held it. Right, food. They barely had any. Whatever was left from the school had run out during the trip. And this house—clearly abandoned in a rush—was picked clean. Jai must be hungry too. He’d sat on that bathroom floor for gods knew how long. Hadn’t eaten, hadn’t slept.

Shao didn’t want to waste any more time hiding. He didn’t want to curl up alone and let the weight of guilt eat him alive again.

He needed to do something—anything—to help.

With a quiet grunt, he stood up and walked to the door. His fingers touched the knob.

But they froze there.

His breath caught.

He could smell it. That scent. That stupid, sticky, overwhelming scent—like caramel toffee after the first bite. Sweet and warm. Lingering in the air like fog.

Jai.

The scent curled into his brain and coiled around his throat like heat.

Shao gritted his teeth and licked his dry lips.

No. Not now. Don’t think about that now.

He blinked quickly and forced his mind elsewhere—food, supplies, water, anything.

With a sharp inhale, he gripped the handle firmly and opened the door.

Outside a strong waft of sweet fragrance hit him right in the face.

Jai was still near the sofa, sitting on the cold floor with his knees pulled up and his arms wrapped tightly around them. His face was blank now—emptied of the heat and fury from before—but his eyes were swollen and red. He looked so small, like he had sunk into himself.

Shao glanced at him for a second, heart aching, but quickly turned away. He couldn’t sit in this room and stew in shame anymore. He needed to do something useful.

He walked past him, toward the front door. "I’ll get us some food," he said softly, hand on the knob. "Stay in here, okay?"

But even as he said it, hesitation sank into his gut. His fingers tightened around the cold doorknob. He didn’t want to leave Jai here alone.

What if someone found the house? What if another bad guy got in? What if something happened while he was gone?

He paused.

And that’s when he heard soft footsteps behind him.

Turning slightly, he blinked in surprise. Jai was already there, glaring up at him. Without a word, Jai brushed past him and pushed open the door.

"I’ll get my own food," he grumbled under his breath as he walked out into the daylight.

Shao stared at his back for a second... then almost laughed under his breath.

This worked out great, actually.

He stepped out too, pulling the door shut behind them.

The sun was up, casting a dim golden hue over the abandoned street. The sky was clear but pale. Everything felt too quiet—no birds, no cars, no people. Just rows of shuttered shops and houses with doors swinging open in the breeze.

It was a ghost city.

Shao instinctively moved closer to Jai as they walked. The silence made his skin crawl, but he didn’t let it show. He kept scanning their surroundings, shoulders tense and ears tuned to every small sound.

A few blocks down, they found a mid-sized supermarket. The glass windows were cracked but still intact, and the doors were hanging open slightly.

Jai didn’t wait—he stepped inside without a word.

Shao followed him, grabbing a shopping cart near the front. The metal wheels creaked loudly as he pushed it over the cracked tiles.

He started filling it with anything non-perishable he could find—cans of soup, crackers, bottled water, dried noodles, jerky, whatever was still on the shelves. He moved quickly but carefully, scanning expiration dates, checking packages. Every now and then, his eyes flicked back to Jai.

Jai wasn’t helping.

He was just walking behind him, dragging his feet, arms crossed, lips in a full pout.

Shao sighed. "You know... you could help."

Jai didn’t respond. Just shrugged and looked away, sulking hard.

Shao didn’t push it. He understood.

After everything that happened, the fight, the words exchanged in the bathroom, things were... messy. Tense. Fragile.

But at least Jai had come with him. That meant something, right?

They weren’t done yet.

Not really.

Shao’s hand brushed a dusty box of cereal. He paused and threw it into the cart before glancing sideways at the boy trailing behind him.

"Do you want to pick anything?"

Jai looked up, finally meeting his eyes.

"No," he mumbled, then added, quieter, "I’m just here so you don’t get jumped by another zombie."

Shao blinked... then smiled faintly.

"Then I guess we’re both here for the same reason."

Jai didn’t say anything more, but he walked a little closer after that.

And Shao didn’t mind the quiet.